Are you taking full advantage of technology to enhance your inbound lead generation? Drip marketing is a tactic that has been around for some time and is becoming increasingly utilized by the apartment industry due to its high lead generation potential. Drip marketing combines pre-written and personalized messages to prospects over a dedicated period of time. Each message contains a specific call-to-action. The campaigns offer relevant information, help create leads and saves valuable resources through automation—ultimately giving you and your agents more time to handle other important tasks in the leasing office.
Getting Started
If you haven’t done so already, you will need to cultivate an email list for which you will use to send your messaging. A great way to secure these contacts is from your website’s contact form or those who have inquired or toured in office. Then, you should research various automated email tools that have the ability to send emails to your contact list based on a predetermined schedule.
The Process
A drip campaign consists of a series of automated email messages catered to your target audience, encouraging them to take action. The nature of these types of campaigns are to ensure that your property maintains top of mind awareness with very little effort or expenditures on your end. Once you determine which method(s) you’ll use to secure your contacts, you’ll then need to determine the length of your drip campaign. These campaigns can range from a week up to a month. You will have to determine which timeframe your audience is most receptive to and produces the lowest unsubscribe rate.
Next, comes drafting the content for your emails. You will want your content to provide a gradual introduction of your property in a such a way that it builds upon the previous email. Then, once a user submits their contact information into your selected contact method, they will receive your first drafted email. Ideally, this email will provide a general introduction of your property and amenities offered. Over the course of the next four to five days, subscribers will then receive a “drip” of emails, consisting of the remaining content which you have drafted. You should delve deeper into specific amenities or benefits n these emails, ultimately encouraging them to take a tour, sign a lease, recommend others, etc.
Taking it to the Next Level
There are several levels of drip marketing campaigns; you just have to ensure that your email software can accommodate your needs. You can then begin to cater your “drip” emails to only those who opened the first, or develop specific campaigns for those who take various actions. For instance, if a user comes in for a tour, perhaps they would receive a drip campaign dedicated to your amenities and unit details, whereas if one signed up for the online newsletter, they would receive a drip campaign targeted towards your overall property and leasing process. The possibilities are endless.
Rentbot can help.
Drip campaigns can be extremely valuable to one’s marketing efforts, as many brands have found an upwards of a 20 percent increase in business opportunities from utilizing this automated sales tactic. Before you decide to explore this method, you’ll need a great website to boost your campaign’s effectiveness. By partnering with Rentbot, you’ll not only have a site that appeals to your audience visually, but offers great amenities too. Online rent payments, maintenance requests and contact forms help streamline your processes and its mobile and responsive design allows your site to be viewed from most any device. Take your marketing to the next level with Rentbot and sign more leases and secure more leads in no time—we guarantee it!
About the Author
Jonsette Calloway joined the Rentbot team in 2015. With a background in public relations, advertising and copywriting, she has helped a multitude of clients achieve their marketing and communications goals within various fields, but she particularly enjoys working with the apartment industry.